2020 52Anc. Wk 4: Maud Emily Alice DOWDING

Let me introduce you to my grandmother, Maud Emily Alice DOWDING.  This photograph of her was taken in 1915, when she was aged 19.

She was born on the 7th September 1896, the fourth of seven children to Charles Henry DOWDING and Minnie Louisa HARRISON.  Her siblings were Charles Christopher George, Horace Charles, Minnie Ellen, Glencoe Roberts, Ethel Sophia, and Rose Harriet.  Five of the children, including Maud, were christened at Saint Anne's, Westminster, Middlesex, England, in Maud's case, on the 27 Sep 1896.  The other two children were christened in Lambeth.

I don't know much about Maud's childhood or upbringing.  Although I have not found school details for her, she signed her own name on her marriage certificate, and as a witness for the marriage of at least one of her siblings, so she clearly had some level of education.  But, in 1901, neither of the two children at home (Charles aged 8, and Maud, recorded as "Emilie", aged 4) were shown as being at school - but then nor were any children on nearby schedules, so perhaps the enumerator only noted occupations.

From my mother's accounts of her own upbringing, Maud didn't appear to value education very much - at least, not for a girl - as Nana didn't seem very bothered about sending Mum to school on time!  My grandfather worked nights, delivering newspapers, and it appears Maud often kept my mother up in the evenings for company and then they didn't get up early in the morning, so as not to disturb Grandad.

As a result, in order to avoid being told off for being late, Mum would then skive the rest of the morning school, frequently just playing in the park, and turn up for the afternoon session instead - assuming, of course, that when she went home for lunch, Maud actually had some food in and didn't need to go to the shops first.

If that was the case, well, that was a whole day off school!

In 1911, Maud, aged 15, is shown as working in a "Tobaca Factory".  It seems likely she remained at the same factory until her marriage to John William Frederick ALLEN in 1926, since she is described on her marriage certificate as a "Tobacco stripper", and the family were still living at 27 Pratt Street, Lambeth, where they had been in 1911.

Maud and John on their wedding day in 1926

Once married, John and Maud moved out to a council house in Dagenham and, five years later, my mother was born.  I think the following picture, with 'Jack', the family dog, would have been taken at around that time.

Maud passed away on the 12th March 1971.

Sources
Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line].
Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1917 [database on-line]
1901 Class: RG13; Piece: 101; Folio: 7; Page: 6
1911 Class: RG14; Piece: 1965